The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1887-11-16
PANlcs IN THEA1ERs.
The Sensoless Madness That Takes Hold
Of Some People.

The Sensoless Madness That Takes Hold
Of Some People.
1t seems impossible. when you look
around at gallant men and amiable
women, sitting placidly at q play.
that in moment, on the utterance of
one word, they can be turned into
dumb, driven cattle, scnselcss, suicidal
idiots. But it is so. Any night the
auditorium of fashionable theater
may echo to some unfortunate note of
alarm. In an instant the gray haired
banker, whose dignity gavo tone to
his whole section, is walking up the
backs of women and over the heads of
children.
At the Park Thcater one night (thc
thcater that happily was destroyed by
fire about three hours before the time
when it would have been packed by
New York's best people to witness
Miss Langtry's debnt) some dude.
entering up the unsafe and tortuous
stairway. threw his cigarette through
the iron grating of tho steps. S One
accumulated rubbish began 10
smolder, and volume Of smoke
poured into the auditorium.
About half the audience sitting there
knew that the stage had an enormous
square opening direct upon Twenty
second street-a door not ten feet from
the level of the street. Every soul in
the house could have gone over tho
low footlights. crossed the stage, and
been in Twenty.second street in three
minutes time. They had MI entered
the theatcr by the crooked. narrow
passage; they NIL knew its miserable
limits; they saw the smoke coming in
at that narrow passage, and yet, when
some scared scamp near the door
jumped to his feet and screechod
"Fire!" they all with one accord start
ed to the rear, regardless of life or
limb Luckily, that night a stalwart
policeman, with tho lungs of a Stentor,
calmly said: There amt no fire; it's
been put out" He grabbed the first
lot of mad people and bodily put 'em
down into seats; but for few min
utes there was the widest kind
of scrimmage. A well-known and
digniticd citizen had sat in high-brcd
ease two seats ahead of me during the
performance. AS the panic struck
him he rose, mounted over the back
of his seat, nd started TO walk on
the shoulders of some fashionably al
tired ladies. It seemed an occasion
for remonstrance and had a slight
but severe remark to make, and made
it with IN opera glass; tho old gentle
man took the kindly hint and conclud-
ed to walk on his legs in the aisle.
but he had made fair start to tramp
to safety over his fellow creatures
Another time in the Cosmopolitan
Hall at Forty Second street the place
was crowded for first night of min
strelsy. There was low gallery rum
ming round the building, supported
on series of iron posts. During the
evening ono of these pasts slipped off
''the block" and crashed through in
10 a billiard saloon in the basement;
The gallery in. that particular spot
sagged, creaked, and some |
beam split with alarming noise.
In moment all was excite
nent in the crowded gallery, l wa,
sitting q few feet in front of this spot, /
md being fearful that people might
begin to jump down on my devoted
lead. pushed my escort very inn
'ortant and self-suf1icient gentleman.
Ind suggested that we get into two
broad aisles beside him where, If peo-
'le jumped, they would not jump on
Is. l got no response, and I might as
veil have pushed at the side of the
louse, lie was so immovable. With
level-fronting eyclids" he confronted
lothing and looked at it steadily. He
laspcd a hard Derby hat against his
tomach aud was as near petrifaction
s is consistent with life.
After the alarm subsidized and the
erformance was resumed, it was dis
overcd that my scared friend had
rushed his hat ON his body as fiat o, a
,ustard plaster, and pressed the nails
f one hand SO venomously into the
Their that the blood had started
trough the cut skin. Cincinnati En-.
uirer.